Democrats vs. Barr
I didn’t watch Barr’s testimony today. I hate that sort of circus ordinarily, and especially hate seeing a decent person vilified for political reasons.
But here are some links to what other people had to say about it: from Ace, Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit, Andrew C. McCarthy, Sister Toldjah at RedState, and Powerline’s Scott Johnson.
Barr had some good zingers. I still don’t trust him but he’s very quick. Much quicker than the Democrats pontificating at him.
They were VERY rude to him, but in the end since they cant totally shut him up, he annihilated them… now the press is trying to claim that these antifa thugs are really trump white supremacists that showed up to make the protests look bad and get him elected… seriously… they are all over the map with it… IF people fall for all this crap then they will deserve the horrid life they will get… like the people who voted for Chavez in Venezuela… they have no one else to blame but themselves and their own greed masquerading as goodness…
My sister watched some of the hearing. She said that it made her want to punch them (the Dems).
The vast majority will never see the hearing themselves. They will only see the MSM’s headlines about it.
I’m trying to imagine an alternate reality where Trump’s critics on the Left and the Right reacted to his election by cleaning up their own acts and becoming more sober, more reasonable, and more responsible.
A reality where unicorns poop gold seems more realistic at this point.
Mike
I watched as much as I could tolerate. The Democrats, led by Nadler, were truly revolting. Richmond, D-New Orleans, is as hate-filled a black racist as is Cory Booker. This crowd favors the violent illegality of their own Stormtroopers as if there were no precedent in 1930s Germany. The US is having its own Krystallnacht.
We will have a resolution. It will be bloody, and for once we must let the end justify the means. Coming soon, whether Trump wins or whether the Dems put a knee to America’s neck after their (constitutional) election triumph. Reminds me of Buddy Holley: “Everyday it’s a-getting closer, going faster than a roller coaster”.
Fractal prefers speed to virtue…stupid rabbit.
Democrats do not pontificate. They just lie.
Cicero,
I think you may have misread my comment. But thanks for calling me stupid.
I go away camping for a month, get some relaxation and politics free reading and hiking and come back here and see that it’s suddenly turned much more negative than it has been. What the heck is going on?
The party of slave owners — The Democrats — must be abolished to pay for their crimes against humanity. The longer the farce persists, the less serious people need regard them.
I watched most of it. William Barr is heroically unflappable. The Democrats cannot help but reveal themselves to be utter fools.
Fractal Rabbit:
I think people are frustrated and on edge.
If the name-calling continues, I’ll clamp down.
Neo,
I’m not really offended. Just surprised. The change in tone in the comments in the month I’ve been away is stark.
These Democrats and their tin ear. A normal person sees a choreographed strategy to be rude, disrespectful, and to harangue and put words putatively into the AG’s mouth while then denying him the opportunity to refute them, or answer a single question. Any normal person sees this tactic being used by each and every Democratic member and immediately concludes, ‘my God this is their strategy??’.
It is reminiscent of a Soviet Bloc show trial, where guilt is fore-ordained. All that is missing is Jerzy Kosinski in character from his role in ‘Reds’.
Barr was indeed unflappable. The Democrats convinced nobody today.
The tone of the country has changed in a month, rather starkly and darkly.
Richard Fernandez of the Belmont Club wrote about how the Muslim terror groups always calibrated their attacks to never provoke Israel to cross an unspoken “red line”. In other words they rely on Israel’s restraint to their provocations because if Israel response was asymmetrical to their provocations then their clock would be cleaned. So Israel would calibrate their response to do a lot of damage before world reaction shut them down and let the leadership of the terrorists in place. But if the terrorist let loose a weapon of mass destruction like chemical attack, dirty bomb or…. a plague then Israel will let loose their massive retaliation world opinion be damned.
I think that the radical left is losing sight of this. They are getting more extreme in their actions. Prior “movements” like Occupy Wall Street and earlier Black Life Matters were calibrated not to intrude into the collective conscious of non-political America but to move the Overton window. They raised a fuss and after they performed their purpose the leftists put them back into the bottle.
To me there is a real chance that the shock troops will not be appeased this time. In other words they will not stop even when their leaders tell them to stop. Like the French Revolution, the sans culottes will not be stopped. It took “whiff of grapeshot” ala Napoleon to quell the mob. The mob is an emotional amorphous mass that will dissipate once resolve (note not force) is displayed and used. Note that there is no statues being pulled down once Trump ordered that destruction of Federal Statues will result in a prison term.
The radical leaders and weak feckless elected officials can only ride the tiger until it devours them…..as it always does. Ask Robespierre and Saint-Just. Or maybe Lin Baio or Grigory Zinoviev. Opps they were purged and executed by the cause they espoused. It is starting now with the assaults on the residences of the elected officials in Oakland and Seattle. Along with the public shaming of the mayors of Minneapolis and Portland the non-political America is starting to notice and the radical leaders are trying to tamp down the protests. The Portland Mayor wants a “meeting” with DHS. I don’t think it is to demand them to leave Portland.
The same situation faced Hitler with the SA in Germany. Hitler had to purge them in order to govern. Likewise the Red Guard in China’ cultural revolution. Since in the US, the leaders cannot shoot the radicals it will be interesting how they react to this. I would guess they would plead that Trump bail them out.
What would be the “tilt” event for the non-political American populace? I believe it would be a mass casualty event of law enforcement be it local or federal. No way the narrative could hold up to that. Let us hope that does not come to pass.
We need to understand how theatrical all this is. Both parts of the uniparty know this political theater is staged for the masses and nothing, ever, will change as a result of these hearings. Sad that people still believe they have a deeper meaning than they do.
A truly gruesome display, a most disgusting spectacle, the parts I saw at least.
Yes, it was theater; but to see these disgusting creatures one worse than the next—led by a fatuous grand inquisitor who used his public platform to LIE SHAMELESSLY to the nation and to the entire world—browbeat and besmirch, embarrass and belittle, ridicule and disparage a person, whose office they should at the very least respect, was infuriating.
Forget about “virtue”. We’re talking here about the most basic form of decency.
It’s gone. Simply gone.
True, it’s been gone for quite a while—evidenced by Obama’s carefully designed destruction of Trust and the institutions of government; by Hillary’s unending assault on Truth and civil society; by the corrupt media’s undermining of the very essence of honesty and dignity…
But this latest unhinged performance by the Democrat House members was a new low.
One hopes that these people will be “educated” at the polling booths; but one despairs that this will occur—or that even if it does, they will be able to learn anything, given the unshakable belief in their own “exemplary virtue” and the overriding justice of their revolting cause.
Bill Barr is a grown-up.
He visited a special needs kindergarten class yesterday and suffered the little children.
The Andrew McCarthy link above is to his PRE-hearing expectations.
Here’s his scathing assessment following the debacle:
https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/07/democrats-make-mockery-of-barr-hearing/
Besides the Democrats’ lies and misstatements, what struck me was their complete incivility. Respect for the Attorney General of the United States was entirely absent on the left. This was much more than adversarial questioning. It was complete and total rudeness from start to finish. Nauseating.
Here’s Barr’s written testimony. It’s excellent:
https://www.scribd.com/document/470626420/AG-Barr-written-testimony-for-7-28-20#from_embed
His “You’re a real class act” comment to Nadler was exactly right.
The Democrats in that mud-slinging orgy have shown once again that they are simply sadistic, power-hungry thugs. And clueless about how they come across to others: “Know thyself” types, they ain’t.
Time to haul out that useful quote from Theodore Dalrymple:
“Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small. In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, not to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better….”
From:
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/124952-political-correctness-is-communist-propaganda-writ-small-in-my-study
And of course, Orwell’s shorter and more to the point:
“Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever. ”
And another “class act”…:
https://www.rt.com/usa/496480-blm-protester-covid-doctor-confrontation/
…as Democrat (& friends)-inspired sabotage of the country and its citizenry ramps up:
https://www.theepochtimes.com/facebook-twitter-youtube-remove-video-of-doctors-who-support-hydroxychloroquine_3440775.html?utm_source=CCPVirusNewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2020-07-29
https://www.theepochtimes.com/pelosi-schumer-reject-gops-ccp-virus-relief-package_3440509.html?utm_source=CCPVirusNewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2020-07-29
Andrew McCarthy – “ The pols are becoming indistinguishable from the ends of the spectrums where they draw their support.“
This is why we are doomed. I know it is just one sentence out of an essay which is otherwise on target but that one sentence gives the game away. Even after perhaps one of the most shameful performances in American political history, one in which the bad behavior was entirely on the Democratic side, McCarthy still has to get a “both sides suck” in just so everybody knows he’s not like those filthy Trumpists.
It’s completely inappropriate for and even detracts from the point he’s trying to make. After all, if “both sides suck” then the Democrats behavior can’t be THAT outrageous. It’s just a response to those equally awful Trumpists.
If Donald Trump loses this November and the Furies are set loose upon America, it won’t be the Democrats fault. It won’t be the media’s fault. It won’t be the Left’s fault. It will be the fault of Andrew McCarthy and people like him who refused to fully join the fight because Trump is “icky.” People who ultimately chose allegiance to their class over their country.
Mike
This is going to get interesting…
Pentagon plans to pull 11,900 troops from Germany, Esper says
and
Lawmakers Move to Block Trump From Pulling U.S. Troops From Germany
As Trump demurs, an unimaginable question forms: Could the president reach for the military in a disputed election?
and
Trump administration, Gov. Brown’s office in talks about pulling federal officers out of Portland, AP reports
and
Portland officials send federal government cease-and-desist letter calling for removal of courthouse fencing
When do you need a ceasefire for a peaceful protest and not an insurgency war?
News Wrap: Mayor of Portland, Oregon, asks for ‘cease-fire’
and
An Oregon senator warned of the threat of martial law as he condemned Trump’s deployment of federal agents in Portland and other cities
and
Oregon Senator Calls for Removal of Federal Troops, Says Portland ‘Has Been Invaded’
and
With secret police, Trump’s practicing fascism in the streets of our cities
[note that you can see the identities of the secret police in the photo in the article]
This is how democracy dies
Well, well, another Stalinist show trial produced and directed by the demokrats.
Roland Freisler, the notorious Nazi jurist, and surely esteemed and admired by the demokrats – Nadler’s favorite jurist for sure !! – would have been most proud of the demokrat interrogators and propagandists at the “hearings.”
Herr Freisler, or as Hitler himself called him, “the old bolshevik,” could have only added his near-violent histrionics to the show trial put on by that obese, lying POS Nadler. He should view some youtube videos of Freisler in action to “up his game” at the next show trial he directs. Nadler though would be unable to get his fat rear off his seat though; Freisler had no problems with that. Then again, Freisler did not weigh 400 lbs.
Only when Abe Lincoln was elected president, did one political party refuse to accept the result of a presidential election.
But even back then, the Confederacy had no desire to or made any effort to have Lincoln removed. They just wanted “out” of the USA and to be left alone. (yep, they sure picked a horrible reason for wanting out).
Contrast this to today’s demokrats and their acolytes ; they are engaging in treason, pure and simple. They are using every “legal “and illegal method short of just rushing into the White House with guns blazing.
Nadler, Pelosi, Schmer, the media, the FBI, CIA and who knows who else are all conspirators or co-conspirators in this on going and never ending coup d’etat.
The ONLY hope in bringing the conspirators to justice – maybe – is if Trump is re-elected. If not, the treasonous individuals will never be brought to justice.
This entire mess make me angry as hell.
Pingback:I thought I was supposed to be heard – not these days
Speaking of messes, but off topic here: Isn’t this about the time we should be hearing something about the Flynn case from the DC Appeals Court?
Fractal Rabbit (and Neo):
I objected to your “I still don’t trust him [Barr] but he’s very quick.”
Your comments are ordinarily sensible from my POV, but I had trouble with this one.
Thus my complaint that you value speed over virtue. Barr is patently, obviously virtuous, and I trust him, unlike you aver you do not. Quickness aka speed is not morally relevant, IMO.
Just a few words to try to encourage the good people on this blog-
Please try not to be demoralized; that is what the enemies of our Republic want.
There are still *many* good people in this country and we will “resist” and fight however we can.
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.
“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
Also, if God is with us, who can be against us?
“I still don’t trust him [Barr] but he’s very quick” –> “Thus my complaint that you value speed over virtue. ”
Not to start divining each other’s meanings from interpretations of single words, I had an entirely different read on Fractal’s comment and was wondering what you were talking about until this reply.
I see “quick” used here as in quick witted, bright, shrewd, alert, etc.
Please try not to be demoralized; that is what the enemies of our Republic want.
That.
Once again I must remind myself that come what may I am just a leaf on the wind, barely able to influence my direct surroundings, much less the city / state / country / world. No matter what I predict for the future the present demands I live my best life, for it’s either anger and confusion my enemies want, or we’ve truly passed the apex of human happiness with darkness to come. Either way, cheerful duty* and a life best lived is the only logical response.
I regularly fail but that is my goal. Best of luck compatriots.
*Duties include hoarding ammo, meds, food, and keeping a keen eye on the worst of our society, but these things can still be done with cheer, right?
Mr Bunge has delved deep and found the witch hiding in plain sight (with a cite). Andy McCarthy revealed again as a agent of satan (but only the little satan).
Who knew Andy McCarthy had such power, to cause president Trump to loose the election? Fantastic thinking Mike.
Count me as a rose-colored-glasses, high-hopes, optimist, but I say this stuff rebounds against the Dems:
____________________________________________
Next time you’re found, with your chin on the ground
There a lot to be learned, so look around
Just what makes that little old ant
Think he’ll move that rubber tree plant
Anyone knows an ant, can’t
Move a rubber tree plant
But he’s got high hopes, he’s got high hopes
He’s got high apple pie, in the sky hopes
So any time your gettin’ low
‘Stead of lettin’ go
Just remember that ant
Oops there goes another rubber tree plant
–Frank Sinatra, “High Hopes”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S94Bh3Qez9o
Mr. Barr walked into a playground and came upon some children playing in a sandbox.
Little Jerry was there. He stuck out his tongue at Mr. Barr.
There were some mean girls making faces at Mr. Barr. There were some children of color – but they weren’t very nice either.
Mr. Barr tried to make friends with the kids – but it was just no use. After ducking some spitballs thrown by the little darlings, Mr. Barr walked home to have a nice dinner.
Regarding Dems who are hooked on DJT being “prone to conspiracy theories” (esp. SpyGate), and regarding the prospects of some Dems fleeing their “Home”, to Greens, LP, etc.:
If Barr/ Durham can vividly show, that the most famous of his “conspiracy theories” was the most *prescient* call of its kind in US history (despite the *ferocious* dissing the MSM has given it), many if not most Dems, who *aren’t* utterly enslaved to Wokeness, will likely flee their Home.
The Dems hung far too much of their hat on this “collusion” BS, for far too long, for them to not pay heavily, if it blows up on them.
Knowledgeable folks who’ve been closely following this Spygate thing (e.g. Mark Wauck) wager, that the Dems have been so vociferous about so much of this (incl. on the Flynn case), because they quite fear a huge backlash, if Barr can gather big scalps.
This result is even more likely, now that there’s real buzz (outside of super-Woke circles), about the extent to which folks (like Taibbi, Chomsky, Steinem) are getting to Breaking Points vs. Cancel Culture.
Of course, the Awoken Ones (e.g. those saying DJT to be “one of worst presidents”) will die before admitting any major error; those hysterical enough to go there, and to push Cancel terror, are in the process of wearing out their welcome with more moderate Dems, esp. working blacks, and those who *actually* work with them (as opposed to those who *actually* shun all but the best-connected of them, and Virtue Signal from lily-white hoods!).
Cicero said,
“Thus my complaint that you value speed over virtue. Barr is patently, obviously virtuous, and I trust him, unlike you aver you do not. Quickness aka speed is not morally relevant, IMO.”
I referred to Barr’s quick wittedness.
I wonder why it is that you thought my comment signaled that I was ‘valuing speed over virtue’ from my brief comment, as I would never value speed over virtue and would never say that I did. Makes no sense to me.
aNany. Not so sure. From various folks on FB over the last couple of years.
Trump is guilty of something terrible. If you hate someone, they must be guilty. Nobody who currently is planning on voting for Biden is going to look at Barr/Durham and figure maybe there have been some shenanigans and Trump isn’t guilty of this or that.
No. Trump is freaking GUILTY. Of what, it doesn’t matter except that it’s the most recent so its debunking isn’t public knowledge. Or it’s the earliest so the debunking can be talked over as if it didn’t happen.
If you can’t prove something, then he’s a racist and a wannabe tyrant.
Facts just don’t matter to these people.
One guy who’s still holding on to everything since collusion as if it were a warm blanket remarked on a FB post of McKenany, “she’s a ‘pro'”. Nothing matters to these people…and the guy who said that is an educated, intelligent, experienced guy–except Trump hate.
Even if they accept the Deep State screwed the pooch seven ways from Sunday, it was justified because Orangemanbad.
Fractal:
You said you still didn’t trust him [Barr]. Your very words. Thus my rejoinder.
Your statement shocked me. Especially after witnessing Barr’s efforts to be civil and honorable in the face of pure vileness.
We are seeing the face of evil in the Democratic Party.
“From various folks on FB”.
Well!
No wonder you’re in such a wad about my guesses.
There’s likely a very strong correlation, between outright degeneracy, and time spent on FB, such that I have *nothing* to do with people who I know frequent that cesspool.
Whatever ZuckerPig and other social media monsters touch, is almost as radioactive as folks who make a point carrying Mein Kampf.
So of course, on FaceBoot, you’ll be reading every imaginable form of bile.
Respectfully, I utterly urge you to find something else, anything!
(For a “street” view of FB, see https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?singlepost=3424187 .
For scholarship on the balefulness of social media in general, see J. Haidt, at https://www.theAtlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/12/social-media-democracy/600763/ .)
Roy Nathanson on July 28, 2020 at 9:34 pm said:
The vast majority will never see the hearing themselves. They will only see the MSM’s headlines about it.
* * *
Exactly so.
I haven’t looked yet, but suspect the MSM talking-heads will show clips of the courageous Democrats speaking truth to power, omit Barr’s responses and the refusals of the Inquisitors to let him speak, leave his great mic-drop one-liners on the cutting room floor, and solemnly opine: AG Barr had no answer to that super-awesome question.
I think at this point we’re talking past each other Cicero.
Saying that I don’t trust Barr (I really don’t: he’s still a Washington insider, no matter the poise and wit he showed yesterday) does not mean I “value speed over virtue”. I think this shocked me more than anything: you can say by my “very words” but my words don’t say that. They don’t even imply it, at least not by any definition I am aware of. I hope my previous explanation that I meant quick-witted was clarifying.
I normally wouldn’t beat this to death, though I’m afraid I have. If you were a known troll like Manju or Montage, or a megalomaniac like Yamarsakar, I would have likely ignored it. I’ve been called stupid before, and on a regular basis too, and that really doesn’t bother me. Being misunderstood does bother me, as I like to think I am quite clear when I write. Having someone assume I meant something I didn’t, something that is almost the exact opposite of what I believe, bothers me as well.
Anyway, I thought it was worth the effort to sort it out with you and I am sorry that I beat the subject to death in the attempt.
“Being misunderstood does bother me….”
Get used to it, the Left’ specialty is systematic use of Straw Man, esp. vs. the “ignorant” Deplorables.
If Biden wins, being misunderstood will be the least of your problems.
aNanyMouse,
But Cicero isn’t the Left and it was that misunderstanding I was referring to.
So any time your gettin’ low
‘Stead of lettin’ go
Just remember that ant
Oops there goes another rubber tree plant
Wow – haven’t heard that one in a long time!
But I remember it more from Captain Kangaroo than Ol’ Blue Eyes.
“Your” should be “you’re” of course; I’ve noticed that lyric transcriptions are kind of casual these days.
Reading auto-transcriptions of videos is an exercise in creative cryptography.
It is important to understand how the Left saw today’s hearing — this is what Democrats will remember, not what actually happened.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/07/attorney-general-bill-bar-house-judiciary-committee-misleading-russiagate-stone-trump-mueller/
“Here Are the 4 Most Misleading Statements From Bill Barr’s Contentious House Testimony — The attorney general is not good at this whole honesty thing.”
This was actually published yesterday, 7/28.
Looks like the Bee was reading Barr’s mind.
https://babylonbee.com/news/the-violent-riots-are-a-myth-says-rep-nadler-as-antifa-sets-fire-to-congressional-hearing-room
Not sure if the Bee published before or after the hearing and Barr’s comments.
However, I am pretty sure Hinderaker is correct.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/07/the-democrats-embarrass-themselves-again.php
“I am not sure who the Democrats think is the audience for this sort of nonsense. Sentient voters watching on television couldn’t possibly have been impressed. Maybe they are just looking for sentence fragments they can use in fundraising emails.”
And if they can’t pull enough out of the video, they’ll make some up.
If I had been Barr, I would either have brought work with me and ostentatiously done it while sitting at the witness table, or simply gotten up and walked out, or both. What would they have done, cited him for contempt of Congress? (Paging Eric Holder!)
It was really unfair, though — there was one of Barr and only 24 Democrats.
Is there anything more disgusting than Jerry Nadler? He reminds me of Andrei Vishinsky who was Stalin’s chief prosecutor during the Purge trials of the 1930’s.
BrooklynBoy;
Turns out that Hitler’s chief Nazi prosecutor, Roland Freisler, was big fan of Vishinsky. In fact, Freisler attended some of Vishinsky’s show trials.
Most folks do not realize how Hitler admired many aspects of Stalinist Russia and Hitler emulated many of Russia’s programs or at least their uses/goals; in particular those used to control the citizenry (via propaganda and terror) and exterminations.
Fractal Rabbit:
You do not trust Barr because he is an “insider”. And thus implicitly lacking in virtue, a negative feature common to all insiders everywhere, you seem to suggest by your reply.
I trust Barr because I believe he is virtuous.
We may be talking past one another, but I believe in talk for clarification. That’s the whole point of this blog IMO.
He reminds me of Andrei Vishinsky who was Stalin’s chief prosecutor during the Purge trials of the 1930’s.
He reminds me of a fat, unscrupulous, low-rent lawyer who defrauds his clients. (He’s been collecting government salaries for so long he should refrain from attempting to practice law should he be bounced out of office, btw).
Richard S., on ” What would they have done, *cited* him for contempt of Congress?”
Or, what if they had the Capitol Hill cops *cuff* him?
Ever since the days of Tailgunner Joe, has Congress ever so consistently cut off a cabinet secretary’s efforts to finish his answers?
If not, the current Lefties have again showed, that there’s not enough room in this country, for both them, and those of us who have the “gall” to defy them.
If we are a Basket of Deplorables, they are a Bucket of Degenerates.
Read the WaPo’s 1982 story on a book review about Joe McCarthy: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/1982/04/11/the-rise-and-fall-of-tail-gunner-joe/c25bcaea-32df-481a-bdd6-4c5828ab9579/
It is full of fiction.
Two examples-
Herblock did not coin “McCarthyism”, as this WaPo piece claimed, for example, perhaps because Herblock was an insider as the WaPo cartoonist; Senator Tydings (D-MD) who hated Sen. McCarthy, coined it as a derogation long before.
Unashamedly, the WaPo states McCarthy wanted State Dept. staffers investigated because he “simply chose to assume that they were considered undesirable because they were active members of the Communist Party.”
It is funny (not) to realize the biased fiction the WaPo was generating even 30 years ago, a time when we, most of us, still trusted the news.
A thoroughly researched and documented book on the Tail Gunner is most worthwhile and elucidating: “Blacklisted by History”, by M. Stanton Evans (2007).
h/t PowerLine commenter.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/857d6f42702ec2527ae176a2cbdc3b39bc4b92dc180f8762e572466da73386cd.jpg
“That face you make when…”